Israeli Labour party in unity snub to Sharon

By Alan Philps in Jerusalem

12:01AM GMT 15 Jan 2003

Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, ran into new problems in his re-election bid yesterday when the opposition Labour party ruled out joining him in a national unity government, his preferred option after the elections.

After weeks of dithering, Amram Mitzna, the dovish Labour leader, called a news conference to declare that he would never join a government with Mr Sharon at its head.

"The time has come to say the truth. We will not be part of a government led by Ariel Sharon," he said. "Whoever does not vote Labour will de facto vote for Sharon."

The decision places Mr Sharon in a difficult position if his Right-wing Likud party emerges as the biggest in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in the Jan 28 election, as opinion polls predict.

Without Labour as a partner, he would be forced to form a coalition with Right-wing and religious parties, a line-up which commentators predict would be unstable and short-lived.

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It would be subject to the blackmail of smaller parties, and would put Mr Sharon at loggerheads with Washington, which is committed to negotiating an interim Palestinian state over the next two years, an idea rejected by the ultra-nationalists.